Election 2023: Town Clerk Frentzel running for reelection

Pattie Frentzel, incumbent Grand Island town clerk, wants people to know she has initiated the Working Families primary. Frentzel has held the office for 20 years. She also will run on the Republican and Conservative party line in the Nov. 7 general election.

Frentzel conducted a successful petition campaign to win the opportunity for a write-in line on the ballot in the Working Families primary. Her intent is to win the Working Families primary for town clerk, thus capturing that line, as well, in the general election.

“I took the opportunity because I was not interviewed by the Working Families,” she said. “They had already made their endorsements and didn’t give me an opportunity, so I gave the voters an opportunity to choose which candidate they wanted on that line.

“The Board of Elections rules are that you have to do a write-in campaign. I’ve been endorsed by the Working Families Party in the past.”

She added, “I am not running a superficial campaign of posturing as anything political. I am not a political town clerk. My staff and I offer extraordinary service to the residents.”

Frentzel listed services she and her staff provide that she said go over and above the traditional accomplishments of the job. These include that, as town clerk, she is also a passport agent, does records grant management and is an E-ZPass retailer who facilitates the process for town residents. Frentzel said her office provides the highest technology available through Grand Island internet provisions and within town policies.

“I can get grants; I can keep my website updated; I can offer things for people to do 24 hours a day (online) and not rely on my office hours – and that’s what I’ve strived to do – and I have,” Frentzel said. “And that’s why I’m running again, because there’s just so much to do. I work with the board, I work with the staff, I work with the residents, and we’re second to none – no doubt about it. That’s what I want people to know and be able to have a choice on that line.”

“My push is to get people to write in” (my) name in the write-in line portion of the Working Families ballot, she said. “I know it’s successful because obviously we’ve seen Byron Brown (Buffalo mayor) do it. So, it’s basically the exact same process. People have to physically go in – you have to fill in the bubble and write in my name.”